A big boost for broadband
Although Mississippi’s congressional delegation was largely opposed to the 2021 legislation that is providing additional federal funding to expand broadband access in rural areas, this state is now excited to get the money.
On Monday, the Biden administration announced that Mississippi will receive $1.2 billion of the $42 billion provided in the Infrastructure and Jobs Act of 2021 to bring high-speed internet service to areas that don’t currently have it.
If you crunch the numbers, Mississippi will do quite well by the allocation. The state accounts for less than 1% of the nation’s population, but it will receive about 3% of the money. That’s because, being a heavily rural state, we have a higher proportion of unserved or underserved homes and businesses than the national average.
In making this week’s allocation announcement, President Biden echoed what others have said previously, including Brandon Presley, who as public service commissioner successfully advocated for allowing rural electric cooperatives, including Greenwood-based Delta Electric, to provide internet service as well as electricity.
The expansion of broadband today in the United States, said the president, can be compared to what happened in rural America almost a century ago when electricity was brought to thinly populated areas that didn’t previously have it. It required government help to make the investment initially work, since it’s a lot more expensive to provide the infrastructure for a utility when customers live far apart.
Although high-speed internet service might not be quite as central to a person’s comfort as electricity, it’s not far behind. In today’s internet-based world, having a slow or no internet connection is debilitating. It limits access to education, entertainment, health care, commerce and communication. It makes it difficult to do business. A place without good internet service is a place where few people in today’s America want to live.
Only two members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation — Rep. Bennie Thompson and Sen. Roger Wicker — seemed to recognize this when they voted two years ago for the legislation, which also included more than a trillion dollars for roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Mississippi’s other senator and three House members let politics — namely being against anything that Democrats advocated — put blinders on them. It’s a vote they hope people in this state will forget.
Rules apply to the rule makers
One of the greatest mistakes those in public office can make is to live by a different set of rules than they impose on everyone else.
Just ask Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister who was toppled from power over the “partygate” scandal.
While the United Kingdom, like much of the world, was in lockdown to try to curtail the spread of COVID-19, Johnson and several of his staffers got caught living it up at his Downing Street headquarters and other government buildings in 2020 and 2021.
Johnson compounded his problems by initially denying the parties took place, and then falsely claiming that pandemic rules and guidance were followed at all times by the revelers.
One can debate whether the lockdowns did more harm than good. But few will debate that the rules, however strict they were, were intended for everyone, including those who set them.
Tim Kalich
Greenwood Commonwealth
Where people aren’t working
The Magnolia Tribune website recently posted an interesting story about how Mississippi’s high incarceration rate helps drag down the state’s economy.
There’s no doubt about that. Based on a report from the Fwd.us group, there currently are about 19,500 people in Mississippi prisons. That may be one of many reasons the state’s working-age labor force is the lowest in America.
Historical numbers paint an even grimmer picture. One estimate says 11% of Mississippi residents have a felony conviction on their record, and 5% have spent time in prison. That’s relevant because it’s far more difficult for inmates to get a job when they’re released.
Mississippi’s official unemployment rate is just above 3% — about as low as it’s ever going to get. But the report says formerly incarcerated people have a 27% unemployment rate, including 44% among former female inmates.
They are among the people who most need help with repairing their lives through a job and other assets that many of us take for granted. But that’s a difficult hill to climb.
The Tribune story cited businesses like Kroger and Best Buy that have committed to practices that give all applicants a fair chance of being hired. The Mississippi Legislature has discussed bills to outlaw the common practice of asking applicants if they’ve been convicted of a crime, but nothing has passed.
On the surface, everyone, including former inmates, ought to receive fair consideration for a job. But the discussion needs a reality check: It is hard for many employers to take a chance on hiring someone who’s been in prison.
First, there’s bound to be natural resistance. Why would a business owner or manager want someone convicted of a crime on their payroll?
At the core, the decision is whether such a candidate is too risky to hire. Has a convict really reformed? Can he be trusted? How would he get along with co-workers? If he has to deal with the public, how would that go?
This is understandable but unfair. America is a land of second chances. People can change and atone for their earlier mistakes. Ask anybody who’s finished the challenge of drug court. And there is some evidence that people who have climbed out of their personal hell make good workers because they appreciate a second opportunity to prove themselves.
Ultimately, more employers will consider hiring former prisoners when they’re more confident they’ll be getting good workers. The state can help this along through job training and other efforts, but it’s got to be a sustained, patient effort over time.
The Fwd.us report suggested other ways the state could get more convicts into the work force successfully: reinstatement of a driver’s license, reduced barriers to getting work licenses and expanding earned release opportunities. These are challenges worth trying.
Jack Ryan
Enterprise-Journal
